Costas & Casas Blog

Puerto Banus' Bullring: Out with the Old, In with the New! Welcome Marbella Arena!

2018-11-07 - Costa del Sol, - Marbella

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At last! The emblematic but disused and slightly dilapidated bullring of Puerto Banus will be transformed into a new, modern arena. It will host leisure and cultural events of national and international character.

The promotor

Promotor Grupo Teatro Goya, who have extensive experience in managing shopping and leisure centres (such as the local cinema complex in Puerto Banus and Casa Rusia in San Pedro), broke this welcome news last week during a local press conference. The initiative will be a long-term project but the new Marbella Arena will already open its doors for the first events in May next year (2019).

Investment

The group will invest 30 million EUR into this rehabilitation program which will of course further enhance the already booming economic and cultural activity of the Marbella region. The transformation itself will create 300 jobs while the envisaged activities will create an on-going 700 direct and indirect jobs. Grupo Teatro Goya anticipates the arena will host about 50 major events per year.

Capacity

The new Marbella Arena will have a capacity of 5.000 people. It will consist of an auditorium area and a commercial area, each run by different Marbella-based companies. The auditorium area will seat 1.000 people in what is now the centre of the ring, and a further 4,000 people in 60 ‘’boxes’’ in the stadium area, spread out over 3 lines. It is anticipated that the auditorium can be covered in times of bad weather by means of a removable tarpaulin.

The external commercial area will comprise restaurants, bars, terraces and shops with currently 25 units under consideration.

History

The bullring of Puerto Banús was built in 1965 and inaugurated in 1968. The last major event in the Plaza de Toros de Puerto Banus dates back to July 2009, when it hosted the quarter finals of the Davis Cup Tennis Tournament with a clash between Germany and Spain. Since then, the bullring closed its doors and entered into a period of decay. Over the last few years, several investors came to the forefront but nothing ever materialised until today.

The initiative will undoubtedly further increase the appeal of Marbella as a quality hotspot and leisure area.

Did you know that…

It has been more than 20 years since the last bullfight was held in Puerto Banus’ bullring?

Although not yet formally forbidden by law, the Spanish bullfight tradition has been in steady decline and the subject of plenty of controversy. So much so that many bullrings had to close as they were not economically viable anymore. Especially the younger generations in Spain are strongly opposed to the bullfights which are -rightly so- seen as a form of animal cruelty.

Some regions in Spain (such as Catalonia) organised self-imposed bans on bullfighting, which the Spanish federal government subsequently overturned. In the Canary Islands, bullfighting is completely banned. Other regions in Spain see heated debates over the last few years as to either outlaw bullfighting or strengthen the rules at the very least.